Contact
by DiesAnotherDay
Summary: Instead of saving the world from the reapers what if Shepard and Garrus had the priority of saving themselves. When they are now living as soldiers in the contact wars will hate and ignorance be there down fall. FemShep. Contact wars
1. Chapter 1 Contact

This idea plays on "What if Garrus and Shepard lived during the First contact war?" and "What would happen if they were left on a strange world."

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><p>Chapter 1: Contact<p>

Shepard came from three generations of soldiers; and like them she grew up on earth just like many humans of the era. Her father was a hardened soldier and had a military history decorated with colorful language, hard work, honesty, bravery, and smart choices that had landed him with many: medals, certificates, and audiences in some of the militaries best clubs, groups, and vocal authorities.

Because of this she had grown up with a great admiration for her father. To Sheppard her father was one of the most honorable men she had ever grown up knowing. He never helped dishonest people but those who remained loyal and honest he helped climb up to heights he himself was at gaining him good favor amongst his peers and inferiors. People often joked about his name Shepard and much he was like one taking in troops and watching over them making sure they understood a soldier's life. Most had aspired to greatness.

Shepard had also grown up learning of her many historical back grounds. From famous historical figures she couldn't name but known what they had done. She was taught thoroughly on the many back grounds and cultures her family had generated from. The mixed views and ideals is what had become her and made her who she is, the cesspool of cultures as some called, had done to her what most others said was idealism which was teach her the importance of a well blended society that everyone wasn't perfect and shouldn't looked at as some single fraction or nationality everyone was the same hate and ignorance only lead to a barrier that blocked most people from realizing that.

It had been many years since Humanity had sky rocketed in finding the Prothean ruins, the once well accepted idea that the speed of light was the limit had been disproven as most things made with a limit usually are. Now they were in the process of activating old machines by Protheans so they could advance far beyond. If even possible they could finally come in contact with other sentient beings, the things humanity could learn from them. After all a child's greatest dream is a world beyond their own with creatures unimaginable and fantasies galore.

The idea to Shepard, even if it was as old as mans first thought of space beyond sky, was refreshing. Something new and adventurous and all she had ever dreamed of compared to this planned out career in the military. Even more cultures, people, and the life lessons, the knowledge and excitement were without end.

She could still remember the day when she began training ready to be a part of this great search the only way she knew she could make her father proud. By the time she was six she knew how to use a pistol, by the time she was fourteen she was able to shoot a shotgun without the kick almost knocking her back, now she could say she could use a grenade launcher when the rare occasion called for it. She was now one of the alliances top soldiers.

Sadly the day she could remember the most was the day when humanity had made first contact with sentient life, her dream. It was live on footage; no one was really paying attention as everyone ate in the mess hall. The news which had been put up on the TV was mandatory as it was a part of their lives to watch such things because it was their job if need arise that among their own species to see who their new boss was or who was at war with whom, heck maybe someone famous died that they could discuss about on their long boring trips through space.

But everything had been so boring and repetitive if it wasn't for one soldier dropping his lunch on the floor startling his friend beside him as he hollered to everyone else to be quiet no one would have even heard the news anchor.

Today was worse than any celebrity dying, this would be no idol chat or small talk, and this would the beginning of a war, a darker part of human history as humanity from then on would be labeled as hostiles and war hungry. The news broadcasted the upcoming battle of an unknown alien ship opening fire at a large number of civilian and alliance ships that were working on the 314 Relay. Only one made it and now the alliance had decided to retaliate, this however escalated as humans had received strange transmissions and messages from alien groups.

It would also be the loss of Shepard's great idol, her father, Commander Shepard of the Prestige, had been placed on the missing in action list. He was dead. Her dream had become her nightmare and her idealism would be forgotten for many years.

The year was 2157, the beginning of the Contact wars.

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><p>Chapter 2: Probes<p>

What they had first feared as the protheans themselves they had found were actually a race called the Turians. They had learned a lot by taking back bodies from battles much too some politicians displeasure saying they weren't helping the cause with Turian ambassadors and negotiations towards peace.

Today was one of Shepard's first time being so far away from Earth. As exhilarating as she had once imagined this to be she now held no excitement behind the commanding mask she had made for herself. She wasn't a talker though she had been told she was a good speaker and an excellent listener. She had earned her own line of medals and accreditations that had made her rise through the ranks. Just like her father.

She was now in the Captains position and commanding a whole crew of alliance soldiers on a trip through Turian space on a mission to find out about their ships and what seemed to be habitable planets. Her, Alliance, ship was a bit run down and needed repairing more often than not which didn't seem like an appropriate vessel for their newest task. They collected a precious cargo of probes that still had active nuclear war heads which thanks to Alliance funding where to be taken back to Alliance scientists to have their information downloaded then sent back out. Due to the vast colonization of ongoing planets human resources had been stretched out thin. Due to this fact the ship she had now been Captain of was not (definitely not) safe or secure enough.

She knew she was right as she saw a large Turian vessel appear in front of them shooting them with advanced weaponry that had made their armor look as tough as fluffy white clouds. Strangely however they didn't do enough damage as to destroy as much as immobilize.

This was clear to Shepard as she ran through the ship in full armor and head gear as she watched bits and pieces of her ship explode and catch fire life support had taken it the worst but was still working well enough, dead bodies of crew who had been caught in the blasts made only imagining what the worst possibilities of the nuclear warheads (probes) she had stashed on her ship that much easier.

Normally her first response would be to kill those on her ship but with it falling apart she stayed in the observation and fed her engineers, crew members, and had the soldiers keep them safe as she told them the safest possible routes to the evacuation pods. If she were to follow she would be putting them and herself in a very bad position. She was more likely to get back alone then if she took a whole mess of people with her.

After the order had already been given to evacuate as a transmission was sent out to reach the closest Alliance vessel. The message was simple, that because the worst possible outcome had come the ship it was to be destroyed getting rid of all research data and taking out any enemy ships with it. Hopefully by the time Sheppard had set the bombs the crew would have floated out far enough to not be hit by the blast.

Now, as the ship began to fall apart, it seems as though the cocky bastards had sent in tech experts and combat operatives to take out the rest of the crew and take whatever valuable bits and pieces back for analysis or experiments. Routine military knowledge was the Turians strong points who seemed experts in the art of well planned militaristic war. They were not savage or cruel but were rather what seemed as a race of people who lived by strict codes and rules. It almost made her sick as she could think of nothing but her father in that string of words.

She had never seen once before in her life what one of those Turians looked like, she just did what she was told which was fire, and never hesitate. That thought was almost foreign to her. She got the basic outline of what they looked like. She had seen dead Turian soldiers still wearing armor and helmets, the basic outlines of their bodies raised interest in her. Many times had she wanted to go over and remove a helmet wanting to see if they really looked like some strange "carapace covered dinosaurs" as one of well seasoned crew members had said they looked like.

"Yep, I saw one of those ugly bastards once. Helmet slit wide open and blue blood, BLUE BLOOD! Dripping everywhere pointy teeth and these funny plates like a raptor with a shell. Freaky mother fucker scared me even when he was dead." He said to his buddies loud enough for the whole crew to hear as he explained how his team had defended one of the human colonies near a mass relay. Then he described what they looked like and that played on her mind and made it almost impossible for her to really imagine them as real.

Whether or not they were some freaky Dinosaur Shepard wasn't afraid. Shepard had learned many things in her days in the academies as a soldier, a fighter and a survivor. She was damn well not going to die the same death her father had died. However if it had to come down to such a thing Shepard wouldn't go out alone she would take some bastards with her to hell, and she would win fucking medals for it!

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><p>Chapter 3: Luck be this lady<p>

She made it to the main control room surprised at how easy it was to get there wondering if the Turians had already gotten what they wanted or were exploring a different part of the ship. It didn't matter as she went to the ship's cargo hold. It seemed as though they had already been here by the fact all the doors had been hacked and she could still see bullet marks and blood but the aliens seemed weary of the strange human weapons. At first she couldn't help but think how idiotic it sounded to make live weapon probes but now she could see benefits to it, a clever disguise and a good defense.

She went over to one of the probes taking off the plate that accessed the main control box. She began typing in the binary code as one of the young Turians making his way to the room. Sadly he hadn't noticed the human. From what the scanner had said no human life was left on board and he had seen the evacuation pods from the ship fly off to some unknown space as his people overpowered their vessel. He had just visited this room a few moments earlier and was now bored as he waited for his next orders. He couldn't help but see how primitive their ship and armor was. They didn't even have effective mass effect shields yet and wondered if his people were really even more primitive then this as he moved through the ship looking at the burned and shot up bodies of those who didn't survive.

He had seen many humans before and always found a hard time trying to figure out the males and the females seeing as he had been told females usually wore long hair and had… what were they? Asari had them too… though he never bothered with them… breasts maybe? Either way he found them rather strange looking as they laid there some with eyes wide open like they were still alive and just staring. It gave him the creeps.

He had been in the Turian fleet when he was 16 his father's request before he went back to work on the citadel like his dad but when his older brother died he had to rejoin. He had to fight, these humans were no small matter, but as much as he disliked them he couldn't say he hated them either. It was just disinterest in them; a sense of not caring that ate his emotions more than hatred, and a sense of loss of someone important that pushed him.

"Garrus," a voice could be heard over his omnitool.

"Yeah, what is it Gavorn?" He answered back lowering his weapon letting his guard down.

"We're ready to go back, the Captain wants to move the human's weapons back to the ship but we're going to need more people before we do anything. Head on back we'll be leaving soon."

"Understood, over and out."

Shepard ran franticly to each one of the bombs setting in the code she had stashed in her mind. Typing in as she set each so they would go off in about seventeen minutes in unison giving her seven minutes to get out safely.

Garrus could hear something, a slight tapping like footsteps in the background, someone was still alive. He stood to the side of the door where she couldn't see him. He could tell this one was a female based on her anatomy and based on looks and skin tight armor she was a higher rank then most of the other humans he had seen burnt and bleeding. He leapt out from his spot by the door.

"Don't move." He said as he raised his gun and aimed for her. Instinctively, not out of cowardice but because of her training she followed orders of the voice as she was told and stood still. "Who are you?"There was no answer, never give rank or name if they don't know your name they just kill you. If they do know your name and see importance you can experience a fate worse than death when they use your rank and importance against you for bribery and information.

"I said give me your name Human or I'll shoot." He didn't shout but she could sense the threat looming in his voice but there was hesitation whether he knew it or not. His training taught him to shoot on sight but he hadn't shot anyone just yet. He was a sniper and a damn good shot but he wasn't some ruthless mercenary. He was instead assigned to protect the group of techs as they went about the ship and then when they had done their job was to look through the ship for survivors.

But he watched as she stood still and turned around looking him in the eye her shoulders straight and posture perfect the look of someone with a commanding presence. She didn't cower or beg for her life and it almost held an elegance he wasn't familiar with in this species. What made this worse was the dark helmet she wore leaving her faceless and somber. It was almost a sense of acceptance this human had that kept him at bay. She realized he had control of the situation and that old sting shot through him telling him this wasn't his choice but necessity. These people wouldn't hesitate to kill him why should he. His finger quivered on the trigger as he aimed for the middle of her forehead. "Just part of the job," he reassured himself, as she didn't say a single word. His hesitation to Shepard was nerve racking as one single thought claimed her mind. "Come 'on why doesn't he just shoot?"

As if just for the moments sake a part of the rooms electrical wiring sparked and blew out over head causing the Turian to break his trance and look up just in time and instinctively cover his face as he put as hot sparks flew down. Now it was Shepard's turn to take out her gun. She knew what the problem was. It was poor electrical wiring that the crew engineers had been working on. The pipes where still loose so taking the shot she aimed towards the high ceiling to the metal hinge joints of the open ceiling where they had been working on the wiring. It fell with two shots falling on the Turian hitting him with a thud as his helmet cracked sending him to the floor and knocking the gun out of his hand.

For the brief moment he saw the world in a blurry haze through the thick cracked see-through strip of material on his helmet. "Thank the spirits," he thought as he pulled off his helmet in his daze not really sure what he was doing anymore as the initial shock of what happened overwhelmed him and he took in deep breaths. He heard the click of a pistol and looked up to see one shoved in his face. DAMN! He knew he should have taken the shot.

Now she was in control of the situation the way she was used to. She could take the shot easily now he was exposed but that was what stopped her. She couldn't help but take in his face. She couldn't help but see what people had been talking about he looked like some creature she had seen before, she just couldn't place it. Like a lobster, cat, bird. She just wasn't sure and the thought sent her spiraling as she looked into the sharpest blue eyes she had ever seen. She couldn't say he was ugly, it kind of stumped her, the first Turian she had ever seen and she was too busy taking in his features to make a shot to his face.

"Well," he said. She took notice of the way his mandibles, she thought was the correct term, and his lower and bottom jaw all seemed to move in some detached matter showing pointed teeth. He looked at her just the same as she had looked at him, expecting the worst but the difference was he didn't see her face but he saw hers. The now faceless enemy had a face: mouth, nose, and eyes that looked at her knowing her next move. Without even realizing it she lowered her weapon a bit.

Some people believe that soldiers just go around shooting people. They see there comrades' die and there first instinct is to wave their guns and shoot. It may be true but when faced in strong situations where personal matters are put in place a soldier can quickly lose their fighting spirit.

The same rule that applies to a soldier in the means of a name can also be applied to the other. You don't give a name and you don't take one. You never let it get personal; personality on the battlefield is as useful as an infected leg. It kills, slowly and discretely, one of Shepard's oldest memories was being at the academies when they told her "The Truth's" of war. The instructor told her old soldier's stories about men who would snap and lose themselves on the battlefield, letting themselves loose to the pressure. They would drop their guns and run into enemy fire as if to just end their own suffering.

War was no child's game when you kill it becomes its own personal scar. Not as though she hadn't killed many before this was one of the more leisure missions the alliance given her. Before then it was safe guarding colonies and what not. The fact that it bothered her not to kill some other species… when she had even killed her own for less reason then war… Spiteful eyes and faces she saw as common. Now that she had seen a foreign face, a kill that was so calm and unafraid, it became that personal wall, it was far too personal and she knew she was deadly close to "biting bullets."

She looked down at her cheap military version of an 'omnitool' something that the military had taken from Turian soldiers, made copies of and distributed to alliance soldiers. Time was running out and she now had five minutes left if she was to make it out safe. The ship was going to blow up anyways would it really matter if she shot him now. Would it be worth it?

"Of course!" said a small voice in the back of her mind. Look at what they did to your crew your ship. Just like your father, but she couldn't help but sympathize they knew the risk when coming out here. It was an inevitable fate that they would be attacked. Would one Turians death bring them all the crew back? No. Would it save the ship, no. Would he die in the blast probably anyway? Maybe.

So would it truly be worth the fret?

"Not today," she said, her voice sounding sadder and more worn then she would have liked it to, and she kicked his gun away and lowered her weapon to her side. Giving him one last look before running like hell. He sat for a second wondering if that had really just happened. He stood up and walked over to the bomb looking down over it. She was running from something and he knew what it was.

"Gavorn," he said as he opened up the channel on his omnitool.

"Yah Garrus, what is it?"

"Get out of here I think the bombs are going to go off, and I have a feeling that it is going to be pretty soon."

"What do you mean go off? Did you do something Garrus, what happened!" he said as his voice held concern but frustration. Garrus had been known as a good soldier but not so much for his reliability he was known not to be too great with following orders and then there was a small habit of getting into trouble every now and then when it came to authority. He always said he wasn't that good at being a Turian.

"I don't have time to explain just go!"

"What are you going to do?" Good point, he looked out the door and down the corridor the human had gone through.

"Don't worry; I have a vague idea of what to do. Over and out." The yellow and orange screen flashed off as he went in her general direction. She couldn't just be running just for the exercise.

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><p>Chapter 4: You sympathize more then you realize.<p>

Shepard made her way to the section of the ship that had the evacuation pods. If she was lucky there would still be some left. Sadly she wouldn't remember which; the ship was mainly miles of pipes that lead to ventilations and tanks. With half the ships wiring on the frits it seems as though a pipeline from the life support room chose to melt enough to let a high concentration of oxygen leak. Fire lives off oxygen, in case the common man doesn't know, and when a high concentration of pure clean oxygen that was originally meant to be redistributed into the vents is instead thrown into a dry fire. It had become like a small bomb in itself sending Shepard flying, and then darkness.

Garrus on the other hand made his way concentrating on her fresh sent trough the hot air that burned his lungs and made the exposed hide on his neck slowly bead with sweat. He could feel the vibration of a blast as he shielded his face from a burst of heat. Something had blown up but didn't hesitate by waiting a moment before going on. He stopped as he saw the body of the women from before. She must have been hit from the blast.

"Damn," he wasn't sure why he said it. Maybe he just marveled at her bad luck with a sense of pain kind of like watching someone being hit or falling off something. The piece of wall looked like it had crushed her if she wasn't already killed by the blast. In a way he probably couldn't have cared about her death unless if she had been a mercenary or thug he just saw the pods and jumped over her.

He could hear a cough, a wheeze. He looked back behind and down at his feet. Was she still alive?

"Damn," he said again this time out of out of sense of amazement. Humans were said to be small and squishy, though he never delighted in really finding that out, but they were also small and weak looking compared to Turians. Blunt nails and no real means of natural protection. "Oh well," He turned around ready to go into the pod quickly hacking it then about to step in.

He heard another cough and looked back at the unconscious body. Again he felt that unknown sting of guilt. He heard the deep soothing voice through the helmet say, "Not today," all over again. All its sympathy and forgiveness, she didn't take the shot and if it wasn't for her he wouldn't have found the pods. His conscience told him he owed her but was that really true. She seemed to have as much of a conscience as he had. She could have shot him. He would have shot him, he knew many of his own species that would have shot him, he knew many other species that would have shot him, but she took mercy's route.

They had both had the chance to kill each other so now he was faced with the biggest decision after all that flip-flopping should he help her or flee.

He also had a feeling he didn't have much time to debate this.

"Damn," he breathed out slowly and sighed. He grunted as he picked up the piece of metal that held her and threw it off before throwing her over his shoulder unceremoniously and got into the pod putting her down and shutting the door behind them. The timing wasn't perfect but in some miraculous way they had made it only 35 seconds after the time needed to get away safely giving them that ten minute boost sending them zooming away at a fast enough speed that the ship now looked like a speck as they sped away safely and the ship blew up. The pod which had been made with enough lead in it saved Shepard from being affected by the radiation and kept them safe from the sonic boom that ripped through the vacuum of space. Whether or not Garrus knew if his fellow crew was safe was unknown to him and he could only ask the spirits that they had all returned without harm.

Whatever didn't affect them had affected the pods communication systems and guidance systems as it steered off course and ripped through the atmosphere of a medium sized uninhabited planet.

In a strange sense with the gravitational pull of the planet as there pod seemed to burn through the atmosphere he felt himself slip much like he had just hump off a building his mind not able to take the feeling and pressure of the fall. The pods safety mechanisms activated as it sensed a crash course into the planet's surface and braced itself as it landed into a small but deep body of water gently rocking them both to shore.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed. I also hope it made sense. :3<p>

I am not used to writing science fiction but I love this game so much and Garrus is my favorite alien EVER! Also I am bored and I thought this would be an interesting idea. Everyone seems to do the same story of Sheppard and Garrus on the Normandy and I thought what it would be like to put them into a different scenario. I am not going to go into any specific detail on my Shepard so you don't feel like it's… well I like the feeling when I go into a story that it's my Shepard. Just makes the whole experience that much better. I am also **not** giving her a first name either that always gets me.

Anyways if this didn't make any sense in some way tell me and I can correct it. I really am trying with this story it took me a whole week to get this the way I wanted it and I still feel funny about it. (I probably read through it more times than anyone else ever will)

Also this Sheppard is more of a Paragon Shepard then a renegade. I tried to make her seem like she was making decisions like what Boiware gives you like "kill a foe" or "persuade him." I also hate renegade female Shepard, sorry guys in my own opinion she is just a b****! Plus if you romanced anyone in mass effect 2 sometimes being renegade Shepard didn't really get you _any_ if you know what I'm saying.

Send reviews please!


	2. Chapter 2 Dance

Chapter 5: Not too forgotten moments.

Shepard could remember very far back into her youth from the age of four and beyond.

When she had the haircut that made her look like a boy not even realizing the fact that she did then coming to school in a dress as all the naïve boys called her a 'faggot' because they _really _thought she was a boy.

She could remember her first crush and how she saved him from bullies at the play ground and then when he called her an ugly tomboy she could remember beating him up herself afterwards.

She remembered when she finally decided to ride her bike at age ten because of her fear of falling off which was partly developed at age five when she climbed up a pine tree and fell almost fifteen feet meeting hard roots and earth. But then remembered she had stilled that fear by the age of eighteen.

It was this impressive memory that had made her special among other things she could so easily remember faces, sounds, voices even more so, but never names.

Typical she knew that, she could remember when she was fourteen and her father, looking tired and melancholy, walked through the door. He had come home late and when she had asked her mother she didn't say anything either then. "He's just having a hard day." She didn't like that almost dishonest tip-toeing around the truth. That had always bothered her.

It was well past her bedtime which had been set as a standard 9:00 pm, eleven-hundred hours. She had sadly carried this habit even in her teenage years out of habit never really into the idea of becoming a party animal or a late night jaywalker.

She heard her mother's soft voice soothing her father as he sat on the coach and laid his head in his hands. He looked upset, not crying or sniveling, but sad all the same.

"So, he at least… he died without any pain, right?"

"The way the truck had tipped when it fell on him I don't think he could have. It completely crushed him. It was… it was just a mess… a disaster." He repeated himself sounding less and less like the wise ass, hot shot that he usually was and more like a troubled helpless man seeking for some unknown answer. It was painful for her to watch.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that," her mother cooed lightly as she bent down on the floor looking at her husband's sad face. She said something she couldn't hear but whatever it was seemed to make him light up again as he looked into his wife's unblinking eyes. If Shepard had acquired an illustrious silver tongue that had nearly won her honors for speech she could easily say it had come from her mother.

She saw her mother rise and heard her ankles pop from the redistribution of weight as she had applied it to her feet making Shepard take a step back at how loud the sound seemed in such a quiet room. Her father was with his calm and collected self stood peacefully with his wife and Shepard contemplated just letting married folks be merry and running to her room when her father pulled out his work phone.

"Yah… Yes… Ok, Congratulations… yah… you too, see you tomorrow." He hung up his phone and for a moment his eyes light up as though he had just seen some brilliant light that everyone else was blind too.

"What was it?" Her mother asked.

Shepard had good memory but for a moment she was faced with the simple feeling of confusion. She felt light hit through the helmet's see through composite plastic slit that allowed her to see but was now blinding her. In an almost childish fit she reached for the back and pulling it off threw it away as she tried to get up. She felt sick, stiff, soar, and… was that the ocean? She felt whatever she was in now was slowly floating or shifting. She got up and looked around at the surprisingly strange surroundings.

It almost brought the nostalgic sense that she was on a freshly born earth as she viewed the thin narrow sand bar still thick and gravely as it stretched along the border of what looked like an ocean as clear as glass that lightly frothed as waves hit the shore pushing and pulling coaxing the pebbles in. She looked outward and there was absolutely nothing but fresh green hills meeting long fields of lush grass for miles. She breathed in the air noting how clean it felt as it flooded her lungs making her feel fresh, not to mention how sweet it was. It was untainted and unpolluted with the exception of the salt water that clouded her senses making it almost overwhelming. This world seemed so new, so untainted, and she was in marvel like she was seeing her own heaven.

It took a good minute before she could stand up slowly and notice she was in a big metal pod. So it was very safe to assume she wasn't dead and wasn't in heaven. It didn't even take much longer before Shepard was back to her senses as she rolled over and looked at the spot that was under noting the cracked screen. The communicator was broken… hell it looked like someone smashed it with a rock.

She had no way of letting the alliance know where she was. Forgetting the beauty she felt anger well up in a place as loss and turmoil rose from places she hadn't expected. She wanted to scream and yell at how stupid she was, could she have really just… could she… really… have… well to be honest she couldn't finish that angry thought. What had she done? Come to think of it… why was she here?

Shepard had a good memory and she could remember not all that long ago running into that damned Turian and… everything went blank. She looked herself over more carefully her suit had scuffs and burn marks on it in different spots, luckily no rips or holes. She looked like she had been in either one hell of a fight or… in an explosion.

She could hear the distinctive sound of a gun clicking by her ear.

"Good to see that your up and awake, how are you feeling Commander Shepard?" said a rather calm and cool Turian holding a red rope.

Chapter 6: Enemies stay closer

When Garrus Vakarian had risen from his all too uncomfortable nap it was plain to say that the overly cramped pod really didn't help with any of his claustrophobia, to such a degree he didn't even know he had any till this point. Not like his mind was really into trying to remember such problems. His head was pounding then he squirmed a bit and could feel his spurs being bent as his legs were stiff. Then before he knew it the three horns on his head had slammed into the back of the pod onto something glass giving him the equivalent pain of smashing a fingernail into its nail bed except on his head. The human hadn't made it any easier by taking up precious space so he scooted her out of the way before he tried the door. The power to the pod had all but shut off during the collision only taking the necessary procedures when bracing itself with the planet's atmosphere and surface.

"Looks like we'll have to do this manually," he said as he positioned his legs on the door. A single glance and it was obvious anatomy that a Turians most powerful asset was their strong muscular legs that were perfectly designed for speed and strength. He braced his arms against the sides as he covered his human "companion" and with all he had in him he pushed, didn't budge.

"Just perfect the one time humans make something good enough to be useful and I'm stuck in it." He complained lowly as he readied himself pushing again, still didn't budge.

"Ok spirits, like I usually say, I know I'm not a good Turian but could you give me some help here, just this once." He whined through a tight jaw starting to feel the pressure of being stuck in the pod. It was starting to get hot from all the radiated body heat and he could feel a strange mugginess that came from his heavy heaving and sweat.

"Ok, one more time." Instead of putting full force on the whole of the door he focused on the area without the hinges. He could hear the metal groan form the pressure, "A little more," he mumbled as he could feel his legs weaken from the strain. He could feel the doors lock give way as he popped it off bringing the bright sun in its absence.

He jumped out leaving the human to slump over in his absence; it looked to be a standard uninhabited planet. He could breathe in and out very well which told him that it was oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide based. There was soft green grass that grew as fine as threads but was strong and tough on the soft cushiony soil. There was a small bank next to a rather large body of water. It was strange; this planet seemed to have such massive potential why wasn't it teaming with more life. Like maybe some critters or even a city or at least a Turian colony by the water.

"This must be just some grasslands, there has to be civilization somewhere." He mumbled half heartedly to himself. It was uncommon for planets like these to be looked over for colonization he doubted he could be so unlucky as to fall on some unknown planet to rot.

There was also something he was overlooking. There was still that human in the pod. Granted he did save her earlier but now he had paid her back. These were times of war and he didn't trust any human. He went over to see if she was still asleep, he assumed so seeing as she was still lying limply. He looked over her more closely.

She was tall and skinny but not lanky she had muscle and impressive armor that showed it off. By the gloves on her hands he saw five fingers like Batarians or Asari. Wait, that didn't matter at the moment… he reached down and grabbed her arm, which even in armor, felt so frail and thin then he looked for an omnitool or just something.

"Good enough for me," he said as he brought up the blue screen and looked down at this cheap piece of human junk they used. He brought up his own orange screen pressed in the keys and downloaded whatever data he could find onto his translator.

Garrus Vakarian was a good sniper, when he was agreeable a good soldier, and he was an alright technician. Not the best of course but swell just the same. He started looking for a form of identification maybe even some information on what they had been doing there. He was sure she had some importance he dived back into the system until he stumbled back onto a file that said I.D. he accessed the file and found what seemed to be a whole human history he began to read vaguly: Commander Shepard, 28 years old, alliance military soldier, no spouse, "N7" special division.

He looked over at the human again, he looked at the armor more closely, it was the same symbol "N7".

Sounded good enough to him as he looked over the commander, maybe it was a good thing he spared her. If he could bring her back she could be a good negotiation peace or with enough persuasion give them vital information. It was always good to have little hostages like her when in times of war.

He grabbed her pistol and guns then looked around, he needed to bind her hands, he walked along the beach till he found some long, thick, red vinery that had been washed up on shore. It would do.

Chapter 7: The red roped prisoner

Shepard silently cursed herself for being so damned stupid. She couldn't remember how, and didn't know why, but the Turian, as he so eloquently stated, had saved her from under burning ship wreckage. Now her great hero of the day had made her take her armor off then bend over the pod, which she was _really_ reluctant at doing earlier due to the basic natural instinct of assuming the worst before it happened even if it didn't make sense, but pistols are good persuaders besides she had good enough underclothes that consisted of a tank top, and loose shorts. He made sure she couldn't get away and held her still by using his, big chicken, foot as he tied her up with some slimy, crimson colored weed.

"Why did I have to take my armor off again?" she said looking over her shoulder.

"Because, human, if you run I have a better chance of 'detaining' you."

"Detaining? You mean I run you shoot." She muttered raising her eyebrow looking behind her and up. Why were Turians so damn tall?

"Well if you want to put it that way," he said in what seemed like her to be some cocky smart ass tone.

'Cocky bastard,' she thought as an image of shoving her big steel toed boot in his face almost made her grin. That was of course if he had allowed her to wear them in the first place instead of just some old army grade socks.

"So…" she said as she slowly nibbling her lip, thinking as the soft plump skin glided out slowly from between her teeth. "What exactly is your plan? Are we just going to wander about out here or what?"

"Just stay quiet and don't worry about it."

"What do you mean don't worry?"

Then there was silence. She just about expected it.

"Cause I mean we're just kind of running around through these stupid hills. It doesn't seem like we're really getting anywhere. How do you even know if anyone's actually out here?"

She had a point he didn't have any idea, and the more they walked the more he felt himself sway toward the thoughts of, 'I'm making a big mistake.' Sadly he wasn't the type turn tail he had to see everything through to the end. He had too much pride to give up.

"Good, if there isn't anything you should have nothing to worry about? Now stay quiet." He said as he gave her another nudge with his pistol.

He looked around and could see familiar plants mixed in with foreign ones. Bushes or trees he had seen growing in other colonies and bits of foliage here and there. Something about this didn't seem right; it was setting him on full alert.

The day continued on in this fashion as they went from hill to hill and Shepard began to notice the similarities in her surroundings. These hills, as odd as it sounded, were like a labyrinth and were very steep forcing them to move and twine about. She could see the occasional bits of foliage but could only guess as to what they looked by earth standards. Every now and then a small amount of rubble and rocks would fall over the edge but she just ignored it. She tried stashing away small memories and mental pictures of every rock and narrow steep. She wasn't planning on becoming a hostage of war.

Number one rule when in command or serving under, never become the hostage. Death is a better alternative to degradation, experimentation, or torture.

The day seemed to last forever as night slowly crept over the crevasses, cracks, and canyons. Garrus cursed himself. He knew he was lost now he would have to rest for the night and think of his next move. By the time night had just about settled they had gone beyond the labyrinth of hills and made it to a cave that had been formed. Garrus kept pushing her on even though she vocalized her bad feeling about all of this. If this was a habitable planet then something had to live here somewhere, and if there was nothing here then there was a reason for it.

"Just shut up and stop worrying, if anything is in here then I'll take care of it." He said as he pushed her on with another tap of, her own, pistol. They continued on as far as they could without going into complete darkness before settling down.

"Ok," he said with a gruff as he grabbed Shepard's arm and brought her to a stalagmite and loosened up the bindings to tie a section of the rope to the skinny spike.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure you don't sneak off on me, now go to sleep. You'll need it in the morning."

The next hour went on as uneventful as the others of the day as Garrus sat and stretched out. There wasn't much to do but he felt twitchy. Like something wasn't right about this place, this whole damn planet. No real signs of animals were apparent. He saw shrubberies and grains, and the occasional low growing tree none of which were exactly edible but he could recognize them. It meant that Turians had discovered this planet, if so then he should have been able to pick up a signal on his omnitool but the damn scanner had been on the frits as it couldn't pick up anything.

He looked over at the human who had been staring at him the entire time. The cave was dark but that didn't stop him from getting that eerie, creepy feeling. His eyes were better made for this dark cavern, he could see her watching him, and it was really starting to bother him. He wanted her to stop but didn't know how, he could tell her but she would probably try to converse which he had been trying to avoid all day, violence was out of the question by far, so without thinking he resorted to a younger sense of lose and growled at her like a immature child would a dog or small animal low, quiet and with clenched teeth. He wasn't really sure what he was trying to convey but she seemed to get the message as she scooted farther away and lied down.

This sadly only bothered him more to find she was so obedient to such a thing. Were humans so primitive or did she think he was this feral. That seemed the more likely reason and he wasn't sure who was more ignorant now… he sighed, he was thinking too much, he had to move. He stood took in another deep breath and stretched his tired neck before he started further into the cave.

Shepard didn't bother to ask any questions as a faint glow from outside slithered across his figure and he disappeared into darkness. She waited a minute before she quickly set to work on her escape. She tightly forced her body into the fetal position as she lay on her side bringing her tied hands under her feet and to the front of her. Now came the hard part she brace herself as she opened her mouth taking as much of the plant in her mouth as possible biting into it. She wasn't sure if it was poisonous or not but it was better to be dead then a hostage.

The things in life that had revolted Shepard to sickness were few but the bitter metallic taste was enough to make her gag as thick red sap invaded her mouth. The plant itself felt like she was biting a cucumber in half as she spit out the chunk and stretched her free hands running outside dry heaving as a vile stench had permeated her nose burning her sinuses and attacking her gag reflex.

She heard a growl…

Chapter 8: The Story of the lovely bones.

Garrus continued on through the cave as his eyes held onto the smallest bits of light. He could just barely see where he was going as he made his way through. It didn't bother him so much until he started stumbling over debris of rocks. It smelled of something foul and rotten he couldn't quite place. He pulled out his pistol getting an old instinctual feeling something was about to happen and something bad. His body was telling him to run back as soon as possible in fact he almost did until he tripped and fell on his face.

His omnitool flashed on his arm illuminating the cave and he froze wide eyed and terrified for only a brief moment as he came face to face with a worn leathery figure. He could see the dark hollowed area's where eyes were supposed to be. It was a molted skin and even if he had never seen a molted skin from this particular animal in his life there was no mistaking that shape of creature.

It meant something was here or had been here and a chill settled in his gut. He leaned his head up and looked around as he saw bones of pure white littering the cave floor as parasites moved about twirling around the old carcasses.

"Oh Spirits," he muttered. This scene seemed rather unreal like it was from some bad horror vid.

He heard a loud shriek from outside. This time without thinking he started up out of instinct and forgot his, well… her, gun in the clutter.

He ran out to find the human nursing a cut on her arm that was bleeding badly with red blood as a large scaly creature circled her fully intending to enjoy his prey.

"Varren," Garrus muttered as he watched the scene. He could see the bright orange eyes locked onto the commander and wondered how she had even escaped. He hadn't seen many humans but something about her made him think she didn't look well at all.

"What the hell are you?" She faintly muttered trying to sound threatening as she shook a little still feeling the effects of her body trying to throw up due to whatever that thing was. She had never seen anything like this creature before so it took her completely by surprise as she yelled. It was totally foreign except it kind of looked dog like. It growled at her in response as it crept closer.

Garrus could just run sadly it was obvious the human couldn't handle something like a Varren in the first place, at least not without protection or a weapon. She was completely defenseless. Now he could do two things. One: he could save her, again, and dance the same dance they had since they met each other or, Two: He could just turn tale and run. Sounded pretty damn simple didn't it.

But, Garrus was not the type of person who would just turn tail. He had to see everything through to the end… and cursed his damn pride.

He used one of his sharp pointed teeth to pull off his gloves feeling the cold night air hit the skin between his three, razor sharp, clawed digits.

He waited for the right moment as the Varren was about to pounce before he leapt out and tackled it. Opening his mouth and using his pointed teeth for the purpose they were designed for as he bit down holding his prey in a death lock slightly piercing the thick skin. He used his claws to try and slit the Varren's throat but it worked quicker as it rolled over and side swiped Garrus's face ripping through his skin and knocking him off before throwing him aside. The Varren plunged for Garrus this time catching his right shoulder with powerful jaws sinking them in breaking the expensive blue armor causing it to crack and break as long teeth pierced his teeth.

Garrus growled out in pain and frustration trying to pull the damn thing off as blue blood was pooling on the ground. The Varren used it foot and began to claw the right side of his face again rather lightly trying to get him to hold still as Garrus heard a cracking noise.

The Varren fell over dead as orange blood oozed slowly from its skull and out into the pool with his own bluer shade.

Shepard stood there with a rock looking down at him as she smashed it again and again. Dropping it and falling to his side using the tips of her fingers to lightly graze his injury.

They just continued the same dance as Shepard took the tank top and with all her might ripped it taking out a chunk of the material ad cleaned his face to get a better look.

Garrus was looking up surprisingly not stunned by this simple action. He just breathed in and out as he felt himself grow weaker and weaker. The last thing he could remember were her glowing irises off set by white corneas. A dark outline accented by the glow of two moons that were larger then he had ever seen. But then again his head hurt too much for him to think about it now as he drifted back off to a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3 Run of Truce

A/N Sorry I meant to post this in the last one. Lol. but I was so tired and sick when I published that one here on that I forgot. I am trying to make this legit and slow not rushed or anything. I also am slowly making this up as I go but I know how I want this to end.

I also wanted to thank the three nice people who reviewed. It really does make me happy when I get them and makes writing these worth the work. I mean if I was just writing these for myself guys I wouldn't post them on a website. So thank you for the nice reviews.

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><p>Chapter 9: The run of truce<p>

Shepard stood shocked and bewildered with the events that had unfolded. It was as though… no, she had watched an all out brawl between two predatory creatures just… ripping each other to damn pieces. While one creature, the dog thingy, had natural strength and powerful jaws the Turian had a more angelic and swift body that allowed him to grip and tear. It was… beautiful. In a way of course a child would see or watch ferocious creatures going at each other's throats in some distant place they would never themselves ever venture.

But however amazed Shepard was she couldn't help feeling so small. Damn it! She was Shepard. Commander Shepard, and the only thing she could remember doing since being here was being pushed around and running away. She couldn't but feel like some damsel in distress. This wasn't her, this wasn't even remotely her.

On the other hand, she couldn't do this alone. Unlike the many times she had been applauded for her heroics she had always had some crew with her. She didn't now, she was on her own and almost defenseless. She didn't want to admit it but she needed the help of someone else, and someone else needed her help.

It was safe to say it wasn't "easy" to lug a six foot Turian into the caves again. And although it sounded foolish to lug him into the once recent home of a large lizard dog Shepard had nowhere else to put him. He had stopped bleeding and Shepard was glad, though she couldn't help but continuously marvel at the color of it.

She meticulously pulled off the upper part of his armor to try and see if she could do anything. She heard him groan a bit as the black under suit slowly peeled off his shoulder and she couldn't help but look at the structure of his arms and chest. It was different and although she didn't cease to marvel in this difference, the training in her blood told her what she needed to do first and foremost. The rag she had used to clean his face which was drying now was a mess and unusable.

"Damn it!" She needed real medical supplies something to cover him up. She had no idea what his species would consider good health care or what was practical for this situation but she had attended segments and classes for these things in the military. She thought back through recent years to the many meetings she had been called to. Looking back to her lessons as a sense of panic flooded her better judgment.

When in the midst of a difficult situation you must attend to a wounded individual in a safe and secure location.

Check, sort of…

Once you have secured a location you must take immediate action and assess the damage.

Check

Then you must apply direct treatment, if there are no supplies or in the case you're low on such said supplies then make sure to camouflage your fellow soldier and then seek medical attention.

It wasn't going to be easy but it needed to be done.

She looked about for something useful, something for coverage. She ran out of the cave and found some of the low growing foliage she saw earlier and broke off a few branches shaking them to get any pests out. She carried them back and placed them over him making sure he was covered adequately enough. In order to do this Shepard would need the proper supplies and she didn't have anything. The only place to get them would be the emergency med kit on the evacuation pod.

Shepard looked out to the horizon noticing the purple hue as two moons beamed down on the planet's surface. Stars glowed illuminating everything just to a point in which you could see what was in front of you. It was another breath taking sight to Shepard as she looked out but she needed to get her head back in the game and out of the atmosphere.

"Well, come on feet." She took a quick step before going out into all out sprint. She looked about through the shadows and back tracked as much as she could. When she was lost, which happened often, she would suck up her disappointment and dash in the other direction. She could hear the scraps and scratches and paranoia set in as she just picked up the pace. It took her the whole night and the better part of the morning before she finally got to the beach again and collapsed by the water.

"Water," Shepard whimpered. It wasn't at all hot outside; in fact it was like walking through heaven. She didn't feel the sting of the sun's rays or the heat it gave off. She didn't feel and winds and yet the air still smelled fresh. But she had already gone one whole day without water and she ran back without it as well.

"At this rate I have two days to four only if I'm lucky," she unceremoniously plopped herself on the ground taking in the cool damp grass, the familiar scent of the salty water. Her breathing was becoming even and her heart was still pumping fast in her chest. Her legs were shaking from the use of all the energy.

"I definitely have one to two days tops," she could feel her body screaming for food as she felt the familiar tingling in her limbs and the shaking sensation in her muscles. Her blood sugar was low.

When she was done resting she stood and moved to the pod. It was completely untouched and she felt relieved. She jumped and looked for a compartment or button and was pleased when she found a divot she could use to pull open a door. What she found more than satisfied as satisfactory. She pulled out a large bag and found tools necessary to survive a long wait in space: vitamin supplements, a box of MRE's, a large water canteen, one set of cheap military grade clothes consisting of old style brown cotton military shirt and cotton pants, and plastic bags. She couldn't help but take herself into priority first as she popped open the canteen and started chugging with a intense natural desire to sooth her own thirst. By the time she was done she was panting and her heart was racing as she found the new surge of energy in her being. She tossed off her tank and her shorts with no worries of what could be watching and rushed to put on her new ones.

When she was done she took one of the bags and shoved everything into it. Except for one thing in particular, she went over to where her armor was abandoned. She wouldn't be able to carry it with all the things she carried but none the less she made sure to take her boots and socks with her.

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><p>A.N.<p>

I know this is a short chapter but to be honest it was strangely hard for me to right this. This one we shall state like an important oneshot or something... Mainly cause I got in huge trouble and didn't have my computer for some time. I will be writing again soon. I want to finish this damn story so bad. But make sure to review and message.


	4. Chapter 4 Firmer Ground

Chapter 10

Firmer ground

Garrus woke up groggy and confused as obvious as that would sound after losing large amounts of blood it took another few minutes of groggy tiredness and a slight mumble of 'is this going to happen every morning now?' before he finally awoke and looked around. The first thing he noticed to his pleasure was the freshly cleaned, bandaged, and healing shoulder and a rather funny placed one on his jaw that went over his mandible.

However… it took him a while to come to terms with the fact he was bare-chested.

A fact about Turians is they can't stand to be without clothes. In fact about the only thing, either then faces, a handful at best of Turians will show off is their hands when in the presence of other races.

'It seems dumb,' Garrus had thought as a kid. There most essential anatomy was something that was kept safe away within their bodies behind strong plated skin. Even for Turian females whose only difference, surprisingly to other races, was the fact they just didn't have the horns to add to their fringe.

It was the fact that there was nothing truly obscene about them that made them so conservative. The fact that they were maybe one of the most different of all the alien races not saying that they weren't alike in any way.

However he had grown up in an uptight family… an uptight race if he really thought about it. And growing up in all that made him feel damn well awkward without anything covering him.

Come to think of it… if he's all bandaged up then it must mean he had been touched by a human bare-chested. _Eeh_, he thought a bit as he shivered with disgust, or more likely humiliation, immediately regretting it as his shoulder throbbed from the soreness.

"Where is she?" He wondered as he rubbed his arm lightly.

"Good morning." He heard a voice somewhere from behind catching him off guard as he saw _her _silhouette hidden within the shadows of the cave.

"Huh," he said making it sound more like a laugh. "Seeing as I don't see our Varren friend in here I take it you're the one that bandaged me up." He meant for it to be sarcastic but saw by the way her brows scrunched she didn't really understand it. Ignorant human probably doesn't even know of Varren.

"Yeah I guess you could say that," her tone suggested all seriousness. It wasn't compliant and sure as hell gave a dominant tone. She wasn't afraid of him and she wasn't messing around she was in control now. His eyes began to adjust and he could see something by her side now, she was smart, she found a weapon.

"So you found the gun? Don't tell me you're going to get revenge and make me march now." He said putting as much venom in his tone. He wasn't the type to be so easily overshadowed.

"Nope, you would be no use to me then, and unlike you I don't waste my time being stupid." ok that statement caught him off guard.

"What?" He said losing some of his venom and taking to question. "What do you mean _use_?"

"Well you see I have given it some thought." The old Sheppard charm and golden tongue would only be half used. She had already thought out her strategy for this confrontation. She knew she wouldn't like this anymore then he did but, oh well.

She slowly began to walk out of the shadow and strolled casually by his side as though she had no care in the world. A good tactical use that was both docile and threatening if the mood was set right, with cool confidence and solemn intrigue she began her speech carefully.

"So how is your arm?" she said making sure not to look at him.

His eyes narrowed a bit, "fine," he said reaching for the bandage on his face slowly pealing it off so he wouldn't have a hard time speaking.

"Good," she said turning on her heal making her tone sound as comforting as possible just like they were old friends while carrying her serious captain in command expression.

"Where is the rest of my armor?"

She looked over at the lip of the cave where his armor sitting unceremoniously next to some fresh tree branches.

"So, I find it a little strange I mean you're awfully compliant for someone who was lugged around like a prisoner for hours. Why? What's your game?"

"Nothing, I just think that you and I could become good allies?"

"Aha," his skepticism lay thick within his voice as his mandibles slackened and laid against his face lightly. "How do you figure?"

"I figure because I am someone with survival experience. I am the one with the medical supplies, the water, the food, and…" she picked the pistol up and shook it playfully in her hand as though she held a children's toy instead of a deadly weapon. "I have the gun."

"So you have everything and I have nothing. What do you need me for?" His body continued to relax as though he was without threat as his tone held interest; it was true she now had good essential equipment. Where she got it he didn't know and hell maybe it was a bluff but then again his arm was bandaged up so it couldn't be not to mention her new wardrobe. He was too tired to be really stubborn so he decided to play along. At least as far as word play went.

"You see the one thing I don't have is information."

"Information?"

"Yes, such as whatever that dog thing was a… ver-hen?"

"You mean Varren?" Ha! He could have laughed.

"Yes, your better associated with alien life, better than I am. We would both have a better chance of survival if we stuck together instead of continuing this ongoing charade of who saves whom before we drag each other off." He noticed the odd way she stood up tall and put her hands behind her back as though she wasn't just demanding attention but deserved it. 'Interesting'

"What makes you think that I have no survival training of my own? Why would me lugging around a human being be best for me?"

"_First off_!" Her tone went held more anger then she wanted it. "What happened before was just a rare occasion. I had underestimated my opponent and was caught off guard. That _will_not happen again!"

"It won't?" He said accusingly. He had no doubts she was serious but couldn't help but amuse himself with her serious nature on the subject. Her pride had been hurt.

"No, if anything this is just an offer. You can refuse or you can oblige, either way I am going to get off this alien planet and get back home alive, how about you?"

He sat for a minute and looked on not really saying anything the tension was nerve racking. His features were alien enough that he gave nothing away for her to take notice of. She wasn't half bad what she said was true. In unknown territory keeping her as a hostage would slow him down, if they split up being apart would hinder both their chances at survival. The best way was to stick it out together ad hope for the best.

"So if I agree," he said slowly, "this would make us ally's on equal terms."

"Yes," she said skeptically.

"So no lying, no… what's the term I'm looking for? Ambushes in the night this just isn't some cheap trick." He knew it wasn't but a little prying never hurt.

"What do you mean?" she said with a little harsher a tone then she had in mind.

"I know about humans they'll do anything in order to get what they want or do what they think they have to."

"What makes you say that?"

"You proved that to me on the ship didn't you?"

"Hm," Shepard suppressed a smile.

"What's so funny," he said. He was just noticing how much humans seemed to mimic asari mannerisms and emotions. It was definitely going to give him an edge.

"If I wanted you dead on the ship, you would be dead."

He couldn't help trying to suppress his worry because he understood why his people believed humans so ruthless because in that moment her eyes told him everything.

She really would have.

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><p><strong>AN:**

Another short chapter TT^TT I'm sorry guys I really am. I have been away again for about 5 days. I went to visit my Great Grandfather who is probably going to die soon. His health is plummeting and the people who are taking care of him are really only using him. It is a nine hour trip from our house to his so we can't do anything for him. I can only hope they will leave and my family will be able to find someone better to care for him.

I also wanted to thank all the wonderful people who reviewed me. Even if it was just one or two words the fact you actually spent the time to do that for me is much appreciated. To be honest the reviews are what makes me crave writing these stories because I love it when someone tells me if I am doing good or bad.

I also want to thank the people who favorite and subscribed that really helps to.

**Bless your face! :D**


	5. Chapter 5 Fresh Scars

A/N: WOW! It's been so long! I know I have no excuses but a lot has happened to me the past few months and me and Mass Effect had a bit of a falling out.

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><p>Chapter 11: Fresh scars<p>

It had already been days, Garrus had stayed completely stationary not willing to risk opening injuries. It had annoyed him to no end. Since the time they had come to an agreement and he had accepted her offer of an "alliance" she had been nothing but a pessimist.

"We need to wait until you're all healed up. You're of no use if you're just limping around." Was what she had said, no, stated quiet bluntly and he couldn't help but feel a blow to his pride that what she was saying was right. However her lack of Turian anatomy had left her looking a little incompetent and made her rants a little less potent.

"Shepard?" he looked towards the bright that crawled along the cracks and crevices of the cave wall the entrance to the dark cavern.

"Oh, Shepard…" He looked all around like some young juvenile trying not to get caught sneaking around doing something he knew would get him in trouble. And if truth be told he nearly was, with a 'Now or never' attitude he made his rather clumsy escape as he fumbled with stiff joints. He sighed as he stood up stretching his legs listening to hollow bones pop while unused tendons and muscles stretched. It wasn't long till he moved on out and into the sunshine. It only felt natural to have some kind of warmth beating down on him. Turians hated the cold so sitting in the shade for so long made his plates feel really shift uncomfortably.

It didn't take long for him to peel away the gauze from his arm to assess his injuries. The skin was still very weak and soft due to healing. It was definitely going to scar and leave and unattractive mark on his shoulder. It was an almost easy fix it wasn't as if… "Oh damn it!" It had dawned on him that he had been carrying around a rather irritating ill managed, thanks to Shepard, bandage on his face that he had sadly grown accustomed to, or at least, enough to forget about all together.

He felt up the side of his face still feeling human made the cheap military cloth as he went through a mental list of what he could use to inspect what he was certain was a great new asset to his features. He made his way back to the pile of armor that had been left unattended to and peeled the makeshift first aid in one un-mighty pull.

"Ahhh, fffff," the sounds feeling weak as they curled off his tongue and circled around tightly clenched teeth, it was true, he groaned leaning up against the closest wall of stone only to slide down hearing the scrapes from his rough back. The feel of his marred skin under his talons told him just as much any visual ever could. If anything all they did was kill his drive to even look at himself. His mom was going be absolutely livid when she saw this. He could already hear his sister telling him what a crazy fool for having half his face ripped off or whatever and his Dad's disaproving look when he told him how he managed to not only destroy his markings but half his damn head.

Another, rather humorous thought had popped into his head. He couldn't help but feel this wasn't going to help his chances at a girlfriend anytime soon. At most he might attract… a krogan? He couldn't help but laugh a little as though he could ever be that desperate. Then he couldn't help but grimace at how low he would have to fall. Not that he was racist it's just that Krogans where the last thing that could be considered, oh… he seen a vid. saying it, how did the human put it, up his alley. Just the thought made him feel dirty, clinical, and sick.

"Garrus?" He hear the tentative steps of Shepherd as her feet made her way over to him through stone and loose dirt. "Is something the matter?"

"No, everything is just fine and dandy, being stuck here with a soldier on the enemy's side. Having my face mauled off only to be scarred for life. Why, all we need is some fine liquor, a little music, and we could make a pleasant vacation out of it."

Shepard couldn't help but lift an eyebrow at his tone unusually sarcastic tone. Well sarcastic for anyone but him as she had learned yet suiting, however she noted this time it withheld slight aggression.

"No women?" Shepard said dryly.

"Not with this face," Garrus laughed getting up off the ground and stretching up the bottom half of his black under suit over himself feeling better at the snug covered skin. She looked over his scars and knew completely what was bugging him.

"Don't you think that you're being a little melodramatic?"

"Of course not, seriousness is my specialty Shepard, next to being a famous Varren trainer and being an astute specialist in the art of salarian science, and my award winning cooking."

Shepard looked at him obviously sensing the cheap sarcasm with a serious face and raised eyebrow.

"Ok, I'm a horrible cook."

She continued on.

"I didn't do so great in my science classes but it was the teachers fault honest."

She continued looking at him but her serious face soon gave way to a humorous smirk. A face he inwardly admitted he liked, it made him feel a little better as well.

"And yes I am no galactic renowned Varren Specialist."

"Really now," she said chuckling slightly as the awkwardness and tension lifted from the air.

"Well you know what they say Shepard a face is worth a thousand words… I think." He said as he gestured to his fresh scars.

"Only if the face is worth reading Mr. Vakarian," She said as she walked back to the cave and started grabbing her stuff.

"What?"

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: The poisonous ones<p>

They had made their way further through the grassy plains and Shepard was happier when they had made out what looked like the edge of a thick forest. With some reluctance they had found themselves in an almost thick and fully habituated jungle the strange thing was that even here they couldn't hear the calls of birds or any other animal noises she would expect to hear. This was not something Vakarian was used to either but at least something Shepard could in some manner relate. Even though there were no animals, which caused Shepard to tense, where there was this much foliage there would have to be some food.

"Alright," Shepard stopped in her tracks as she turned to Garrus. For the first time she could see a clear emotion run across his face, anxiety, not so much as to cause panic but enough to feel uneasy in his surroundings as he looked from side to side.

"Alright… we are getting out of here alright. Is that right? Or maybe we are staying… alright?"

"Well it's getting darker so we might as well stay."

"Um, Shepard. Now might not be a good time to sound whiny and all but my instincts are telling me bad, bad, bad. So maybe we should go ahead and get out of here and find another spot before my bad, bad feelings are right."

"Don't worry Vakarian, I have this covered. Alliance soldiers are trained in similar situations as these."

"Yes, but Turians aren't. We are more specialized in a busting into antique stores to catch the bad guys, or blowing up military bases on moons these days. The most environmental action we see is colonies."

Shepard stopped in her tracks and looked at him with furrowed brows. "Really?"

"Well when you're training to C-sec specifications, yes. When they had me shifted off to help them on that ship that didn't give me much military training in other fields because it would have been pointless. My job, as I recall was to be really sneakily board and highjack metal ships, remember?" He said it with humor as though it didn't matter.

Almost as though she had just remembered she had turned away from him shoulders stiff with the memories of her crew mates before her eyes. Burned, bloody carcasses of people she had eaten dinner, conversed, even took showers and slept above and next to in bunks with the night before the attack. Then ultimately her father, had he looked like that when he died.

"Yeah," her voice held no humor but was calm, "I remember."

He had struck a nerve, and he now he knew it.

"I'll go look for food, you go ahead and use the supplies we have to set up camp."

"Fine, but don't get attacked by anything again. I don't think I'm in good enough shape to help you this time around Shepard." She didn't seem to pay attention to what he was saying because before he could make some other remark or ask a question she had started up running.

It wasn't long that Garrus had begun a fire giving up on Shepards lighting utensils and using a small concentrated electrical laser from his omnitools many settings. Soon the fire started and before he could situate himself Shepard had returned with armfuls of fruits both he was acquainted with and were foreign. She laid them on the ground as they both hungrily eyed what was in front of them. All he had eaten in the past few days was rationed nutrient paste as she had eaten her military provisions. Now they were nearly out and nearly starved.

Poisonous, new, new, yuck, he finally picked up a purple fruit with bright blue veins of juice that flowed under tender skin. Using ungloved hands he used his sharp talons to slice out little pieces and put them in his mouth. He looked at Shepard as she quickly picked up a red tough looking fruit and took a huge chunk chewing idly.

"Whoa!" He said smacking it out of her hand. "What are you doing that's poisonous," She quickly picked it back up and flicked the dirt off.

"What do you mean poisonous?" She said as she looked him in the face.

"I mean they'll make you go blind. If anything you should go try and throw that up before your body starts to digest it. The affects are almost immediate."

"If they are so immediate I would be blind by now!"

"What?" He said both irritated and confused.

"I ate one while I was looking for the rest."

"Wh… Wha?" He started splurting out. Was she that dumb that she would… "Have you ever eaten these before?" he asked.

"Well, no but I tried them a while ago and they seemed fine."

"Seemed fine! You don't even know what you're eating. You could have died!"

Shepard was a little surprised to see him so concerned.

"Garrus, I am fine. I wasn't planning on coming back here and bringing back anything poisonous. What makes this plant so bad and how do you know what it is. How do you know this isn't something else."

"Well either way its DNA is made of dextroamino acid. It might as well give you an allergic reaction."

"Why are you so worried all of a sudden? I would have thought that this was out of character for you."

"No… it's just that." Garrus took a deep breath. "I can associate with most of the foliage here but it doesn't make any sense. I have seen just about most of the vegetation here on colonized Turian worlds but the fact that we haven't been able to find anyone." He stood up and walked around. "The fact that we haven't found anyone is to disquieting. What happened here that would cause no one to be here? Why would anyone set up a planet to be inhabited this way and dessert it?"

Shepard watched him as he openly contemplated his thoughts and took another bite not giving any mind to the crunch of dirt in between her teeth. She thought these same thoughts over in her mind but couldn't help but feel some relief as she thought of how lucky she was there was no Turian colonies here. If there had been she would either be dead or a hostage, she would rather be dead.

Garrus stopped and looked over to Shepard. "Are you listening, Shepard?"

"No, not really, you see I am stuck on an alien planet where I might live the rest of my life and the last thing I want to hear as I make the great pilgrimage to find my new residence is about how hopeless the situation might be all over me being able to eat a piece of seemingly toxic fruit." She took another bite noting it tasted acidic like an apple with the texture of a pear.

Garrus looked on and sat down. "Yes, I guess I just had a slight panic attack. I just can't help but feel like something is wrong Shepard. It's not just the Turian colonies but there isn't nearly any life here, and that Varren from the other day looked nearly starved to death."

"Garrus?" He turned and looked at the human women as she had a contemplating look on her face. "Are Varren Turian animals?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well are they indigenous to your planet?"

"No, they are from Tuchanka the Krogan home world."

"So wouldn't that mean that Krogans would have been here at some point?"

"Yeah, I was starting to speculate that as well. But I would imagine they would have seen us coming on radar if they were still here. They have a habit of going to worlds with illegal contraband and leaving just the same."

"But if krogans were here they must have or had some place to gather. A base or something even if they aren't here anymore that would still be here right?"

"Yes, your right." He said seeing her obvious logic immediately without coaxing he knew what she had intended. "So, you have an idea where we are going to live. Should I go out get some drapes maybe."

"No but a mattress will do just fine." Here cocky grin came back as she had forgotten all about their recent discussions.

No one noticed the strangely ominous silver blue that was reflected in the clear juice that fell from Shepards' fruit as it hit the ground and was quickly absorbed in the dirt not to be seen again.

* * *

><p>AN:

Have you ever loved something so much that you had to let it go? Well I did! Yep I burnt myself out on the stuff, videos, comics, animations and… fan fictions =w=. Mmmmmm, Fan fiction. I'm sorry I'm ashamed. So I needed a bit of a break away from the mass effect… imagination… realm… place. =-= Yeah. I have also had some bad writers block, had to go to a wedding, a funeral, and the worst family vacation of my life. This is the part of the story before the real adventure/drama comes into play and Shepard and Garrus are just hanging out trying to set there bearings for a new planet and get comfortable enough to trust one another.

It's not a long chapter but I hope it will suffice and hopefully I didn't mess up on Garrus's character too much.

Read rate and review and always remember fluffy love yah!


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